John 9:35

The news of the man’s expulsion from the synagogue reaches Jesus. He goes out in search of him, and when he finds him, He asks, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” John 9:35 EFP 

Oh, the mind of Jesus! If you had to choose one question to open up a dialogue with a person you had never met, but that you had impacted them positively at some point in their lives, what would that question be? Certainly it would not be “Do you believe in the Son of God?” That might come up in the course of a conversation, but not the opening.

Yet Jesus knows the heart of the man whom he healed. Although he performed a miracle on his eyes, he now seeks him out to perform the corresponding miracle in his heart. He knows he is a man without a spiritual community. He is an outcast. He has been maligned in his desire to defend the man who gave him the gift of sight. The man has received his sight, but he is still a lost soul. He considers himself a disciple of a man he has never met, on the basis of one significant miracle. But he does not Him. How can he believe in Him?

Jesus’ question reveals what is more important that having his sight restored. The man may have thought that nothing could be a greater gift than his sight. But the men who spent the day interrogating him are proof that having the ability to see with your eyes does not mean you can see what is most important in life. Secondly, the man needs to have his picture of God reconstructed. Only someone who knows God as he truly is can do that. The question Jesus asked could have been couched in the words, “Do you trust in the Son of God?” I ask today, “What is my answer to that question?” What does my answer “yes” imply? What does it require? What does it reveal? Do I truly trust the Son of God? Do I truly believe? Only my life can truly reveal that.